26 February 2012

Training

Training for the expedition began at the end of 2011.

So far I have completed three training weekends, two on the Dorset coast path and one on the Devon/Cornwall border.  All have tried to mimic the conditions we will be encountering; the Dorset coast path has been great in terms of the undulating landscape.  Days two and three of our trek in Vancouver island will be very similar.


It has also been a good opportunity for Jenny Boyce my trekking buddy and I to make plans for the trek. It is hard when you are working during the day to find time for expedition planning, but our hike from Ringstead to Durdle door this weekend, gave us time together where we could make some progress.

Forest walks

In February I headed down to the Devon-Cornwall boarder to trek in Forestry Commission woodland and alongside the River Tamar.  While there was some broadleaf woodland, most was conifer and so similar to what we will trek through on the Juan de Fuca trail.



Equipment

The other purpose of training has been to try out some new kit.  I am not buying lots of new equipment but there are a few items that I did not own that are essential.  Probably the most important is my rucksack.  I asked for a lot of advice on which was best and borrowed other people's packs to get an idea of what was comfortable and fitted.
The company I settled for was Aiguille who are based in Sheffield.  They sent me packs through the post to try out as I am a bit on the small side at 5'3! I fitted the ladies pack and they made it for me.  The best things about the pack is that it is no frills, so nothing to go wrong.  It is very lightweight, which helps for the trek and it has an expandable lid, which is extrememly useful for cramming stuff in! It is 60 + 25 litres capacity. See it online http://www.aiguillealpine.co.uk/cgi-bin/trolleyed_public.cgi?action=showprod_R110

My other investment has been trousers, which again are a problem if you are on the small side as many of the big outdoor clothing names only cater to size 10 in ladies clothing.  I asked around again for advice and was recommended by an ecologist friend of mine to get some Rohans, which go down to size 8. They are perfect and I got both warmer winter pairs and lightweight pairs. They dry very quickly and take up very little rucksack space.






Cooking and wild camping




In December 2011 I spent a blustery night under canvas, having trekked along part of the Dorset coastal path. This was a great opportunity to test out the cooking skills using a jet boil and pocket rocket and wayfarer and mountain house, which is a freeze dried food. My choices on the trek will be to have mountain house (as they don't sell Wayfarer in Canada) or to take pasta/cous cous etc. Cooking will have to be carefully done as the trek is also home to bears and cougars, who will come and investigate any spilt food. For this reason it is important to use bear barrels or caches and store and cook food well away from the tent.

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